She’s Going To Be GORGEOUS

Tom is THE MAN!  I prefer to write post that show certain projects from start to finish, but in this case I was too excited to wait.  The built-in that I saved is going to be absolutely gorgeous when it’s all finished.  Tom has made my vision for restoring this piece come to life.

For those that remember my Armed with 2 PB&Js, Vitamin Water and Gatorade post you know my house had a built-in that stood in the way of my open concept kitchen/dining room.  I loved the piece; it was one of the many cool elements that made me fall instantly in love with my house, so without question it was going to be saved and relocated.

Kitchen Built-in which was relocated

Rear of Built-in after it was freed

Built-in in its new location

Once freed the cabinet was going to be located next to the refrigerator, which means that the left side of it will be exposed.  The sides weren’t meant to be shown (hence the word built-in), so they were not pretty.  For months I stewed over what to do until I received an email from the Wooden Nickel, which showed a picture of a pine hutch they had for sale (now sold).  I went to see it in person and the idea was born.  I decided to take strips of wood and frame the sides, like you see on the hutch.

Now a normal person (I’m not normal) would just nail on four strips of wood.  I wanted it to look original, intentional, so I wanted the inside edge to have the same profile as the doors.  This is the same profile I put on my kitchen cabinets and master vanity.  This built-in was really the inspiration behind many of my design choices, so I had to make her right.

Before I moved I got my former neighbor to help me rip down in thickness and width new pieces of pine I bought from Home Depot.  I purchased a router bit that would give me the rounded affected from the doors and he used his router to add the profile.  I bought a router last year and it’s still in the box.  Now was not the time for a crash course.  One thing I learned through my floor restoration is that new wood will not stain the same as old wood.  Then I remembered I had a supply of old pine planks given to me by my friend Joan.

Her wood was covered in a thick, shellac like, coating, but Tom, the Man, Milfeld was able to run it through his planer (my next tool investment) and use my router bit to create the same strips, but with old pine.  My friend’s building is about 50 years older than my house.  He completely understood what I was going for, so while I unpacked more boxes, he got to work attaching the strips to the sides of the cabinet.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Now it’s up to me to get her across the finish line.  I’ve got to get the tile work finished on the first floor bathroom, but I’m biting at the bit to get her finished.  I still have a few more surprises to share in the final reveal, so stay tuned.